reprobate

American  

[rep-ruh-beyt] / ˈrɛp rəˌbeɪt /

noun

1. a depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person.

   a drunken reprobate.

   Synonyms:

   cad, rascal, wretch, miscreant, wastrel, scoundrel, tramp, rogue

2. a person rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation.

   Synonyms:

   pariah, outcast

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adjective

1. morally depraved; unprincipled; bad.

   Synonyms:

   corrupt, evil, sinful, wicked

2. rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation.

verb (used with object)

reprobated, reprobating

1. to disapprove, condemn, or censure.

   Synonyms:

   reprove, rebuke, blame, reprehend

2. (of God) to reject (a person), as for sin; exclude from the number of the elect or from salvation.

reprobate British  

/ ˈrɛprəʊˌbeɪt, ˈrɛprəbəsɪ /

adjective

1. morally unprincipled; depraved

2. Christianity destined or condemned to eternal punishment in hell

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noun

1. an unprincipled, depraved, or damned person

2. a disreputable or roguish person

   the old reprobate

verb

1. to disapprove of; condemn

2. (of God) to destine, consign, or condemn to eternal punishment in hell

Other Word Forms

• reprobacy
  noun
• reprobateness
  noun
• reprobater
  noun
• unreprobated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of reprobate

1400–50; late Middle English reprobaten < Latin reprobātus; past participle of reprobāre to reprove

Explanation

There's no way around it, a reprobate is a bad egg. The black sheep of the family, missing a moral compass — a reprobate's been called everything from a deviant to an evildoer to a scoundrel. Selfish, depraved, disreputable, a reprobate is not known for his inner goodness. In fact, reprobates were once considered "rejected by God," the meaning of the noun in the 1500s. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, a reprobate was a popular literary character, sometimes amusing, as noted in Henry James' Daisy Miller, "What a clever little reprobate she was, and how smartly she played an injured innocence!"

Example Sentences

I know that I'm a Reprobate, I know that I'm a Freak; But, oh! this utter loneliness!

From The Book of Humorous Verse by Wells, Carolyn

Reprobate that thou art, answer to thine own condemnation?

From The Scottish Chiefs by Porter, Jane

So sings Mr. Robert Montgomery, with admirable propriety:-- 'In Oxford see the Reprobate appear!

From Aspects of Modern Oxford by Godley, A. D. (Alfred Denis)

Longings to utter fond compassionate sounds Stir through me, checked by knowing wiser folk Reprobate such indulgence.

From Miscellany of Poetry 1919 by Seymour, W. Kean

Reprobate as he was himself, this work of villainy was new to him and seemed to be very terrible. 

From The Way We Live Now by Trollope, Anthony